Hot Building Product Stocks To Watch Right Now

LONDON -- After a busy month or so for company reports, we're heading into a quiet patch over the next few weeks as the end-of-March reporting season draws to a close. There won't be a lot to keep us alert next week, but we will have a small handful of important updates.

Here we take a quick look at two FTSE 100 companies and one from the FTSE 250 that are bringing us news in the coming week.

Wolseley (LSE: WOS  )
We're expecting a third-quarter update from Wolseley on Tuesday, and if things are still going as they were at the halfway stage, announced in March, investors will probably be pleased -- though with the share price up nearly 50% over the past 12 months to 3,353 pence, they're probably already quite happy.

Like-for-like revenue at the plumbing, heating, and building products supplier was up 2.2% for the six months to Jan. 31, and with margins improving, the firm managed to convert that to a 7.6% rise in trading profit and a 3.9% rise in headline earnings per share. The interim dividend was lifted by 10% to 22 pence per share. Net debt was up to 拢871 million from 拢470 million at the same stage the previous year, but against revenue of 拢6.3 billion, that's not a massive sum.

Top Clean Energy Companies To Own For 2015: Continental Resources Inc. (CLR)

Continental Resources, Inc. engages in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas primarily in the north, south, and east regions of the United States. The company primarily sells its oil and natural gas production to end users, as well as to midstream marketing companies or oil refining companies at the lease. As of December 31, 2011, its estimated proved reserves were 508.4 million barrels of crude oil equivalent, with estimated proved developed reserves of 205.2 million barrels of crude oil equivalent. The company had interests in 3,255 wells and served as the operator of 2,082 of these wells. Continental Resources, Inc. was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Enid, Oklahoma.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  However, having additional pipeline capacity come online, when combined with all the crude oil hitting the rails, has caused the spread between globally traded Brent and U.S. benchmarked WTI to shrink to less than a dollar this week. This trend has hit refiners such as Valero (NYSE: VLO  ) hard. This past quarter the company reported an operating income drop of 42% over last year's totals, as its margins were affected by higher oil prices. On the other hand, oil producers such as Bakken-focused Continental Resources (NYSE: CLR  ) are poised to thrive this quarter, as the company can now get more for every barrel of oil it produces. That's one reason investors had bid its shares up an all-time high this week. The company could potentially produce a blowout quarter when it reports on Aug 7.

Hot Building Product Stocks To Watch Right Now: Morgan Stanley Technology Etf (MTK)

SPDR Morgan Stanley Technology (ETF) (the Fund), formerly Morgan Stanley Technology ETF, seeks to replicate as closely as possible the performance of the Morgan Stanley Technology Index (the Index). The Fund utilizes a passive or indexing approach and attempts to approximate the investment performance of its benchmark Index, by investing in a portfolio of stocks intended to replicate the index.

The Fund�� industry breakdown includes communications equipment, software, computers and peripherals, semiconductors and semiconductor equipment, information technology (IT) services, Internet software and services, Internet and catalog retail, and electronic equipment and instruments. The Fund�� portfolio includes AMAZON.COM, INC, FIRST DATA CORP., JUNIPER NETWORKS, INC., APPLE, INC. and EMC CORP.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  Exchange-traded funds offer a convenient way to invest in sectors or niches that interest you. If you'd like to add some tech-heavy stocks to your portfolio, but don't have the time or expertise to hand-pick a few, the SPDR Morgan Stanley Technology ETF (NYSEMKT: MTK  ) could save you a lot of trouble. Instead of trying to figure out which companies will perform best, you can use this technology ETF to invest in lots of them simultaneously.
  
  The basics
  ETFs often sport lower expense ratios than their mutual fund cousins. The technology ETF's expense ratio -- its annual fee -- is a relatively low 0.50%. The fund is fairly small, too, so if you're thinking of buying, beware of possibly large spreads between its bid and ask prices. Consider using a limit order if you want to buy in.

Hot Building Product Stocks To Watch Right Now: BYD Co Ltd (BYDDF)

BYD COMPANY LIMITED is principally engaged in the research, development, manufacture and distribution of automobiles, secondary rechargeable batteries and mobile phone components. The Company operates its businesses primarily through secondary rechargeable battery business, which provides lithium-ion batteries and nickel batteries, which are applied in mobile phones, digital cameras, electric tools, electric toys and other portable electronic devices; mobile phone components and assembly businesses, which offers casings, keypads, liquid crystal display (LCD) modules, cameras, flexible circuit boards, chargers, and mobile phone design and assembly services, as well as automobile business, which provides automobiles, including G6, S6 and other series. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Chris Isidore]

  Shares of Tesla (TSLA) shot up as high as $196, before easing off those highs later in the day. That topped the previous record set Sept. 30 Shares of Chinese electric carmaker BYD (BYDDF), in which Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA, Fortune 500) has taken a stake, were also higher in trading in China and the United States.

Hot Building Product Stocks To Watch Right Now: Clean Diesel Technologies Inc.(CDTI)

Clean Diesel Technologies, Inc. engages in the manufacture and distribution of emissions control systems and products for heavy duty diesel and light duty vehicle markets. The company operates in two divisions, Heavy Duty Diesel Systems and Catalyst. The Heavy Duty Diesel Systems division designs and manufactures verified exhaust emissions control solutions that are used to reduce exhaust emissions created by on-road, off-road, and stationary diesel and alternative fuel engines, including propane and natural gas. Its products include closed crankcase ventilation systems, diesel oxidation catalysts, diesel particulate filters, Platinum Plus fuel-borne catalysts, ARIS selective catalytic reduction reagents, catalyzed wire mesh diesel particulate filters, alternative fuel products, and exhaust accessories. This division offers its products for original equipment manufacturers of heavy duty diesel equipment, such as mining equipment, vehicles, generator sets, and construction equipment, as well as retrofit customers consisting of school districts, municipalities, and other fleet operators. The Catalyst division produces catalyst formulations using its proprietary MPC technology for gasoline, diesel, and natural gas induced emissions. Its products comprise catalysts for gasoline engines, diesel engines, and energy applications. This division supplies its catalysts to automotive manufacturers and large heavy duty diesel engine manufacturers. The company sells its products through a network of distributors and dealers, and its direct sales force worldwide. Clean Diesel Technologies, Inc. is based in Ventura, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By James E. Brumley]

  Did you miss today's 123% pop from Clean Diesel Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDTI)? If you didn't chase it higher after the bullish gap left behind at the open, then good for you - you made the right choice. As tempting as CDTI looked then (and still does), the bulk of any near-term gain here has already been realized, and there's no real point in jumping on the bandwagon now. Fear not if you missed the big move from Clean Diesel Technologies though. There's another, smaller name playing the same game, and you won't have to pay a fortune for it just to take a big risk.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  One Nasdaq stock posting outsized gains today is Clean Diesel Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: CDTI) which is getting a share price boost of 68.85%. The company announced that it will begin shipping emissions control systems��catalysts to Honda in the first half of this year. The stock will close at around $4.82 in a 52-week range of $1.10 to $7.39 (the high was set today and was nearly double Monday�� closing price of $2.83). Volume was about 36-times the daily average of around nearly 525,000 shares traded.